Big Dreams

So I was recently reminded of all the big dreams we had when we moved into our house.  It's almost a year later and although we did accomplish a lot we are hardly near the end result we have "dreamed".  At one time my husband and I actually took a print of the Ravenna basement and started doodling our thoughts and ideas of how we wanted things to look in the future....I guess a map of sorts.  We had actually hung the drawing on our fridge for a while as a reminder of the little projects we could do but how they would  fair in the GRAND picture when everything is said and done.  I mean, honestly, we have forever so there really is no rush and if we just keep plugging away at the little things we'll eventually reach our goal.

So below I share with you our "map" of how we see our Ravenna in the future.  A little child like I agree (neither one of us claim to be any sort of artist), but it is just a doodle that we keep adding to and changing as we see ideas, opportunities or thoughts that come to mind. 

We would love to put in a curvy paver walkway in the front of our house with some nice landscaping beds that wrap around all sides of the house complete with a big tree at the front corner of the house and in the back left corner of the house where the morning room meets the back wall of the office.  I would love a curvy paver patio that extends from one side of our house to the other side of the morning room and some complimentary stone walls that hug the edges of the patio for people to sit on, set some pretty planters on,  house our grill and also provide some additional privacy.  Big dreams would possibly put a beautiful wood pergola extending from the morning room over the section of patio to provide some shade from the sun. Then of course our back yard with the addition of some trees, our shed, and the kids swing set or "playground" as we call it.

Once we finish the basement we see an enclosed work shop area for my husband (where the water heater is), a full bathroom complete with a whirlpool tub (we had all the rough ins installed to do a full bath in the future), a living room area (the main finished section where the egress is located, a bar or game table type area (where the morning room is), a closet, a storage area (in the unused section behind where the bathroom is), and double doors opening to a guest bedroom/media room.  Our original thought was down the road it could be made into a space that our parents could live in if their health started to fail and they needed to move in with us.  In the mean time we would use it as a place where our out of town friends and family could stay and feel comfortable having their own space and where we could  also just hang out and enjoy some extra entertaining space.  Anyways....for the moment its all a dream with the hopes that someday we'll eventually complete these projects and add some living space and benefits to our already wonderful home!!

Until next blog....keep dreaming big!!

Privacy Please!

The landscape of our neighborhood has boomed over the winter and spring months.  It hardly looks like the neighborhood we moved into last August, but we are very excited to see all the new faces and houses.  We recently gained two brand new neighbors within a weeks time as they simultaneously built two new houses  right next to us.  You can imagine our anticipation wondering what model house it was going to be and if the new house would cause any privacy issues for our already cozy quarters.   Unfortunately the new house has a second story window that looks right down into our first floor powder room.  Quite uncomfortable in the privacy sector!!  So for the  past couple months I have avoided our powder room at all costs, which is quite silly as I should feel comfortable in my own home.   Those of you with the Ravenna model know that little window in the powder room wouldn't exactly be the type of window to sport a shade, or shutters, or curtains for that matter...its really meant to be a pretty little window to let in some light.  So I was left wondering, how do I get some privacy without disturbing the design and light the window provides.  AH HA.....we installed some privacy film!!  I love that I can still enjoy the little window but it makes me feel confidently comfortable that no one can see in to our powder room.  It was roughly about $20 from a big box store, and took literally a couple minutes to install.  Plus it doesn't have the gooey sticky like surface so if we decide to do something different we won't spend hours trying to peel and de-goo the window.   It has been the perfect solution to our privacy dilemma!  Below are some pictures (sorry they are not very good) but I tried to capture the blur of the outside so you can see how it looks from the inside and the privacy it provides.  

 You can actually see the blurred window of my neighbor's house in the lower left corner of the upper right quadrant of the window.  Perhaps I should have taken my little lamp out of the window too...ops!  Hopefully you get the idea though of the privacy film...I love it and it looks great!!

291 days....

So we have officially lived in our home for 291 days.  The time just seems to have gone by so fast.  Today we had our 10 month inspection and really I don't have too much to report.  There were a couple of items we questioned or that needed "tweaking" but really our house has settled quite nicely.  Honestly, having such little to fix just goes to show Ryan has done their job in building us a wonderful house.  Now thats not to say we haven't had our share of issues but Ryan has addressed all of them and to our satisfaction.....we have been very pleased with our experience!!

Not too much has changed since our last post.  Still no paint on the walls :-(  Its killing me but I really want to wait until after our final drywall meeting before we start painting.  Projects.......well...I guess I have a couple of things to report.  My husband is building a shed from scratch and I must say doing a great job!!  I think it will be very cute once its completed....which was my only requirement for the shed.  I'll try to post pictures once there is more than just a skeleton of the shed in our yard.    I also made some cornices for our guest room windows that turned out pretty nice if I  do say so myself.  I've gotten quite a few compliments on them.  My husband built some stairs off of our sliding  glass door so now we have access to the back yard from the back of our house.  I am dying to put in a patio but, as I mentioned before, I recently lost my job so some of the more pricey projects may have to be put on hold.  However, this may be a good thing so I can see what types of  patios/decks etc. others are doing and how they are designed so I can get a grasp on exactly what I will want.  If anyone is willing to share their patio/deck ideas or plans I would love to know so we can do some planning.  I'm also hoping we can do some landscaping before the summer is over.  Originally I would have hired out (we were going to do it this summer when we did the patio) but I think to keep costs to a minimum we will  probably do it ourselves.  I'm hoping that will be our next project once the shed is done (hopefully by this weekend).  Other than that I love seeing all your ideas you are sharing. We have actually implemented some of them ourselves in our own house.....so thank you all for your tips!!  By the way I have tried to comment on some of your blogs but seem to be having trouble...just know we are still reading and enjoying everyone's upgrades, ideas, projects, and tips!!

Below are some pictures of the cornices.  I found the directions on how to make them online.  They were pretty inexpensive and easy to do.  My mother recently made me the quilt in the picture for a gift (LOVE IT!!).   I used the same fabric she used in the quilt border to make the cornices so they match.  Hopefully I'll use the rest of the fabric to make some cute toss pillows, perhaps cover some lamp shades for the guest room lamps (once I  finally get lamps and some side tables) :-).  

I hope everyone is doing well and if anyone wouldn't mind sharing their deck/patio/landscaping ideas I would love to consider them!!